Where is the snow for the Winter Olympics?

The low altitude ski station at Vancouver (Cypress Mountain) was indeed suffering lack of snow just recently but this is a well-known occurrence for those who live locally - which does not include you, of course, special people, or the scaremongering newspaper reporter you quote. It has in fact had some snow in the last couple of days to pretty it up. Why they should pick it for a Winter Olympics site is a mystery when the problems are known. I suppose it's handy for Vancouver.

The snow variability round Vancouver is due to the variations in El Nino which brings warmer than normal water to the west coast of North America (as well as South America) every few years. We are currently in an El Nino period. It helps when you have the bigger picture to hand. Get out your atlas and see where Cypress Mountain is - at low altitude and near the coast just half an hours drive from Vancouver.

Other North American Olympic Ski resorts past and present are currently doing fine re snow. See here:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/02/11/th....ht-is-starting/

Quote:

"...most of the ski areas in the world are having excellent seasons, including another 2010 Winter Olympics venue at Whistler which has already received over 1,000 cm of snow this winter. Arizona Snowbowl has received 238 inches of snow this winter! You read that correctly – Arizona. Squaw Valley, California (site of the 1960 Winter Olympics) is reporting at least 10 feet of snow on the ground. Ski conditions around Salt Lake City (site of the 2002 Olympics) are excellent. Wolf Creek, Colorado is reporting close to ten feet on the ground. European ski areas are reporting excellent snow. Pajarito Mountain, New Mexico is reporting one of their best ski seasons ever. North Carolina ski areas are reporting some of their best conditions ever. Scotland is reporting the best ski conditions in 50 years. Washington DC is shut down due to snow. "Most of the ski areas in British Columbia have excellent snow, but be assured that the press will highlight the one area which doesn’t – and will not provide a sensible explanation for the cause. They will blame it on global warming, and will intentionally ignore ski conditions in most of the globe. The glass is 10% empty, not 90% full."

If people really want to read a sensible discussion of the North American east coast blizzards they can find it here:

http://climateaudit.org/2010/02/11/shove....global-warming/

First class informative debate between knowledgeable people.
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Barcelona hit with heaviest snowfall in 25 years
UK Telegraph 11 Mar 2010

Snowfalls of up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) were forecast for the worst affected areas of the region of Catalonia, prompting the regional government to cancel classes for more than 142,000 students at 476 public schools.

Power was lost in homes throughout the region, with energy company Fecsa-Endesa reporting 200,000 clients without electricity, mostly in the province of Girona....

See more here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew....-25-years.html

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Power down and motorists stranded as blizzards batter northern Britain http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weathe....n-Bri tain.html Blizzards, gale force winds and torrential rain battered Scotland and Northern Ireland causing chaos for roads and rail services and leaving nearly 50,000 homes without electricity. Nick Britten Published: 7:30AM BST 31 Mar 2010